Hot studio tip #43: When working in a scorching studio is too much, it’s a good idea to step away from the drawing board & channel your creative energy with a series of gentle brainstorming sessions in ‘relax-mode’ away from heat &stress. Horizontal thinking: Creating ideas for tomorrow. #heatwave

Summer 💛🧡❤️ #batpig

This started life as a phone doodle… #chopin

Wednesday twizzle.

You never know who or what you’re going to meet in a sketchbook… #characterdesign

Put the kettle on. How terribly pleasant to have summer temperatures return to an altogether more sensible level in the UK (everywhere soon I hope). “There is something in the nature of tea that leads us into a world of quiet contemplation of life.” Li Yutang (1895-1976)

Be it in Life or coming across a cantankerous goose, choose your path carefully. Bit of a stand-off on my walk this morning, reminded me of this little watercolour I did the last time it happened. If in doubt…GO AROUND!

Heatwave Day 5: 8.57am Not sure how well I’m coping. #heatwave

Today’s heatwave dress code: crocs. (Inflatable ball and sunglasses optional). That’s it. #studiolife

Water bird. Definitely warming up now. Don’t forget to leave a little water in some outside shade if you can! #heatwave #pencil

Summer plumage. The good thing about working alone in my studio is I get to wear what I want…heatwave be damned. Characters from GOLDILOCKS AND THE THREE CROCODILES written by @michaelrosenyes.bsky.social (2022)

Wallowing in water, that’s the ticket this week… - From THE STAR-FACED CROCODILE (2008)

Another oldie - poop poop! #toad

Stumbled across the curious tableau during my morning jaunt along the river. A frozen moment, with a family of Canadian geese gathered around to work out what all the fuss was about…the fisherman considering his next move. In the 2/3 mins of my passing by, no one moved. A moment in time.

Found a little tree sparrow in my files over the weekend. A bird with things on its mind. #originalwatercolour

Tapping into David Hockney on my iPad 💚 #davidhockney

Revisiting my wolves from last year for a little polishing. News on publication date coming soon. #picturebookillustration

A wiley old wolf for a wet and drizzly day. #charcterdesign

How’s your week so far? From THE SCALLYWAGS BLOW THEIR TOP (2010). #picturebookillustration

Nearly a head-on collision with a low flying bird this morning. Fledgling blackbird I think. No judgment here, we were all learners once. Illustration from picturebook GOOD KNIGHT SLEEP TIGHT (2005). #originalillustration #watercolour

Captivated by a rich pink & black butterfly on my way home yesterday evening. Don’t know much about butterflies but some online digging told me it was a cinnabar butterfly. Beautiful. #cinnabar

Charcoal tiger #sketchbook

Just read my to-do list. It doesn’t include an unexpected plumbing issue. Gotta love a Monday. Another detail from my foxy picture book. #onthedrawingboard

The perils of drinking alfresco. #summerthoughts

Another slightly bewildered looking face outside the studio this morning. (Spare a thought for the fly. Circle of life etc). #colourpencil

Early character sketches for Ruffles. I like to get to know any character with plenty of drawing, exploring posture, different actions etc. Ruffles is ‘every toddler’ of course, but firmly up the doggy end of the scale. #characterdesign

UK heatwave. It’s official. #summerthoughts #batpig

First dip of the season? #heatwave #summerthoughts

Today’s warm up started out as a bear but my pencil drifted. I’m sure he has a good soul. #sketchbook

An early effort when I first dabbled with digital. A friend suggested I get an iPad and look at procreate as a gentle way-in to photoshop down the line. Sound advice. As a technophobe it worked for me. #procreate

It’s good for the grass. #sketchbook

Another oldie but I clocked my first ‘hopper’ this morning, it’s that time of year. A fledgling’s expression always makes me think they having second thoughts… #birdlife

Been a while since I posted anything from the Wolf picbk I was working on last yr. Still work to be done on the cover but here’s a crop of one of my favourite characters. Thistlegrin: a wood sprite with a winning smile but dubious moral compass. #picturebookillustration #characterdesign #sneakypeak

It’s all getting a bit fruity in the UK news at the moment. That’s about as political as I get. (Who reads a newspaper these days?) #sketchbook

Deadline alert: edging towards the finish line this week. #studiolife

The Italian. #brushpen

Happy 100th Birthday David Attenborough. Thank you for instilling in me a life-long passion for wildlife and the environment. How lucky we are to share our time with you. What a gift. 🙏🏻💚 #davidattenborough

Jackdaw. Loki of the bird world. Corvids in general, they’re always up to something. #pencil

Me about 3 mins after lunch. It’s a slippery slope. #sketchbook

Getting it done. I don’t like DIY, by which I mean I loathe it. With a passion. The fact I’m utterly hopeless is probably not unrelated. I can tolerate (but not without some huffing), is painting walls. Drawing others doing it, on the other hand, is quite acceptable. Adding foxes even better.

Glum-looking toad. Haven’t drawn on the iPad for an age and crazy how rusty I am navigating procreate. (Shame you can’t access music here. Better with music!).

Happy Friday. May your weekend be full of music, dance and tumbling back flips. #originalwatercolour #picturebookillustration

Mr Thursday. A man passed the midweek point but, disappointingly, not quite Friday. #pencil

Tickling the ivories. #soothingthesoul

Development sketch of my foxy cobbler. The fox in this picture book has so much character and presence in the narrative. The fact he doesn’t speak at all but maintains such strong characterisation is down to the brilliant writing by the author #MickJackson. #characterdesign #wip

The whole family keeping me company today. #wip

Some urgent singing from a great tit this morning. Hope he’s got the right lyrics. #charcoal

I once read storytelling is a blend of ingredients; cast, character, lighting, setting, mood, atmosphere etc, they all play their part. With pic bks that covers words & pictures. The trick of course, is selecting & finessing with care & judgement to create a pleasing taste. #picturebook #writing

When apples bite back. From JUST LIKE MY DAD (2003) (Retitled Just Like My Daddy - 2017) #picturebook